Stardew Valley becomes truly inescapable as it joins the September PlayStation Plus games lineup alongside an impeccable indie puzzler and one of the best platformers of the modern era

If you've somehow managed to dodge playing Stardew Valley this long, you're about to run out of excuses. The farming RPG that reignited a genre has joined the September PlayStation Plus games lineup alongside Double Fine's outstanding Psychonauts sequel and the wonderful indie puzzler Viewfinder.

Psychonauts 2, Stardew Valley, and Viewfinder all join the PS Plus monthly games lineup on September 2, as Sony has just announced. Whether you subscribe to the Essential, Extra, or Premium tier, you'll be able to claim all three titles from that date, and you'll continue to have access to them for the duration of your PS Plus subscription.

Stardew Valley is somehow both the most unassuming and most notable game in the lineup. Originally released in 2016 as a love letter to the Harvest Moon – now known as Story of Seasons – series, the game's charming characters and hidden depths introduced untold numbers of players to the joys of farming RPGs, turning a niche genre into one of the biggest booming spaces in indie gaming.

But you shouldn't sleep on Psychonauts 2, either. For my money, it's Double Fine's best game – a solid platformer with a fantastic story and characters. While its strengths are far more in level design and world variety than pure platforming bliss, I still think it's one of the decade's best examples of the genre.

Notably, Psychonauts 2 never got a PS5 port despite launching on Xbox Series X, so it's just a PS4 version here. On PS5, you'll still get a minor visual upgrade with a smooth 60 FPS to enjoy, at least.

Finally, there's Viewfinder, a wonderful indie puzzler where you've got a magic camera that can change the shape of the world. Take a picture of a bridge, for example, and you can hold up the resulting photo to place that bridge in the world to cross an impassable gap. It's not a long game, but the mechanics ramp up in complexity as you go, ultimately coming together into a wonderfully satisfying set of puzzles.

In other words, it's an all-killer, no-filler month for PlayStation Plus subscribers. I really enjoyed all three of these games, and while none of them will blow you away on a technical level they remain among the best PS5 games you can play.

If you're looking for upcoming PS5 games to keep on your own radar, you know where to click.